TRANSPORT Smart Class, Midlands 2022

“Bettering Oyster Outside the London Area – How We Finally Do It”  – Over the last 10 years, Transport for West Midlands have been developing the largest and leading smart payments and ticketing solution outside of London, which works across the same, more complex, de-regulated public transport environment that the rest of the UK faces. Recent progress has taken capabilities to a new level: practical solutions have started to be made available for areas beyond the West Midlands to adopt and the next two years will unlock even more exciting opportunities.

Proposals developed by TfWM with Midlands Connect and Nottingham City Council pave the way towards the holy grail of smart ticketing! This joint keynote presentation from Mike Waters (Director of Policy, Strategy & Innovation at TfWM) and Matt Lewis (Head of Swift at TfWM) will share lessons, set the ‘how this unlocks other key outcomes’ and chart a path forward which others can join to enjoy the same benefits.

“Transforming Mobility in Coventry with Urban Airport and Coventry Very Light Rail” – Coventry is a city making ground-breaking strides in transport innovation. Drawing on decades of expertise in automotive manufacturing, strong academic institutions and innovative businesses, Coventry is becoming a testbed for some of the UK’s most forward-thinking transport projects.

Two such projects, Urban Airport and Coventry Very Light Rail, will be the subject of this keynote presentation, given by Coventry City Council’s Sunil Budhdeo, Transport Innovation Manager, and Nicola Small, Senior Rail Programme Manager.

The Council is working with Urban-Air Port Ltd to demonstrate the world’s first Urban Airport at a strategic location in Coventry: Air One. Rapidly deployed and with a small footprint, Air One could be used in cities throughout the UK to provide environmentally friendly drone operations with authorisation from civil aviation authorities.

Coventry Very Light Rail is yet another world first that is seeking to drive down the costs of urban light rail through the development of a new, battery powered vehicle and a breakthrough track form that takes advantage of the latest materials science. The system could make urban light rail a possibility in smaller and medium-sized cities throughout the UK.

“Delivering at Speed and at Scale, Without Leaving Anyone Behind” – Midlands Connect’s Head of Strategy, Richard Bradley, will explain in this keynote how long-term planning for major infrastructure is being transformed to capture all of the Midland’s communities and geographies, with a delivery focus that puts the Midlands at the centre of the green industrial revolution: “Adapting our traditional travel market analysis for our rapidly changing world seems to be the ‘secret sauce’ for kick-starting enhancements to infrastructure and de-risking supply-chains”. Richard will explain how this market analysis can enable sustainable business models motivated by societal benefits as well as profit.

His presentation will describe how short-term delivery is becoming essential for learning-by-doing and scaling alternative fuels, emerging technologies and digital systems. This includes regional demonstrators in the future of rural mobility, digital and technology driven solutions that get the most out of the road network and evolving our use of hydrogen for moving heavy loads long distances. Richard will reveal Midlands Connect’s collaborative and scalable approach to delivering a resilient network for recharging electric vehicles and refuelling with alternative fuels. He will also illustrate how new approaches to delivery can enable a paradigm shift in behaviour, including the importance of building trust by monitoring the region’s performance.

“7 Myths of Why MaaS Will Not Fly” – By integrating all different kinds of mobility service providers, MaaS is considered as one of most important measures to foster the modal shift from car to public transport. Since this leads to significant reduction of CO₂ emissions, MaaS is getting more and more attention from authorities and operators in the UK as a problem solver.

Nevertheless, the concept of MaaS is being challenged by authorities, customers, and operators, which brings up many myths and false conclusions. But what are the indicators for a successful and long-lasting MaaS platform? The routing engine? The data quality? The amount of integrated mobility service providers? The ticketing system?

This presentation by Siemens will clarify the 7 most common myths about MaaS and will demonstrate the critical requirements to succeed, and provide an overview of implemented state-of-the-art journey planners and MaaS solutions from all around the world.

“Integrating Demand Responsive Transport into Bus Service Improvement Plans (BSIPs) – Practical Tips for the Implementation and Launch of DDRT” – Public transport can be a challenge where demand is scarce. Dynamic Demand Responsive Transport streamlines mass-transit systems by matching service levels more closely to that demand. Lowering operational costs, easier access to transportation, reducing environmental impacts: when territories need to address some of these challenges, an intelligent DRT solution can provide the answer.

This presentation by Padam Mobility will show how rural and Peri-urban areas which have significant public transport gaps, can use DRT to significantly improve the mobility of their inhabitants.

Jack Holland will provide practical advice on what public authorities need to consider now to successfully implement their DRT in their BSIPs including creating new transport services and/or replacing underused fixed line services.

“Part 6 – Tools and Opportunities for Enforcing Moving Traffic” – The Department for Transport announced in September 2020 that they would be fully enacting the remaining elements of Part 6 of the Traffic Management Act (TMA), permitting local authorities outside of London to use approved camera devices to enforce moving traffic contraventions, such as yellow box junctions and banned turns. This “Part 6” Smart Class presentation from Principal Engineer, Tina Glover, will offer a deep dive into what these changes mean for local authorities, the lessons learnt from Marston Holdings’ extensive experience in delivering moving traffic enforcement and guidance on several other benefits such as environmental, congestion management, improved journey times, increased safety, and cleaner air.

Marston Holdings is uniquely placed to help local authorities in this space: Whether it’s guidance on scheme design and engagement, support on traffic surveys, fixed and mobile enforcement camera solutions or business processing queries.

Certainly, by introducing the enforcement of moving traffic contraventions and utilising the latest ANPR camera technology, authorities will be in a far better position to manage and improve their local road network and deliver key objectives outlined in their local transport plans.

“Making it Easier for People to Walk and Cycle: Innovations in Approach” – In this presentation, Clare Maltby, Sustrans’ England Director for the Midlands and East, will discuss the ways in which Sustrans is making it easier for people to walk and cycle.

“The innovations in approach includes technological aspects, like greater use of GIS in our network planning and engagement work. But we also focus on innovations in design and engagement approach. It is vital to take communities with us in tackling the challenges of transport and in achieving liveable cities and towns. Our collaborative design approaches aim to transform urban design by working with communities, raising ambition and amplifying voices”.